Patients with hypothyroidism who prefer a natural thyroid hormone replacement are facing a difficult situation now that Armour Thyroid is on indefinite backorder. Alternative desiccated thyroid medications like WesThroid and Nature-Throid are not available at this time either, due to supply issues. Many patients are struggling to find a substitution. Compounding pharmacies can offer a personalized solution.
Pharmacy Compounding
Pharmacists have been individually preparing medications for patients since the beginning of the profession. Modern compounding pharmacists are able to make individual prescriptions under certain circumstances:
- a medication is not commercially available in the United States
- the dosage is not commercially available
- the medicine must be prepared dye-free or preservative-free
- a different delivery system, such as a cream, patch or lollipop is needed
- supplies are made only for an individual patient with a prescription
Many medications are already individually compounded for patients. Areas such as bio-identical hormones for menopausal woman, pain medications for cancer patients and liquid medications for children are prepared in compounding pharmacies daily. Compounded prescriptions are appropriate for any patient from children to the elderly.
Desiccated Thyroid Hormone
Pharmacists can obtain desiccated or dried thyroid hormone powder, similar to that which is used to make Armour Thyroid, Nature-Throid and WesThroid. This raw material can be used to compound a thyroid medication with the same components as the commercially available medicines. Doses can be made that are individualized to the patient. Any dose is possible. Patients can have dosing that is the same as their previous Armour Thyroid dose or one that is created specifically for them. This can be an advantage in fine-tuning thyroid dosing for each patient.
Synthetic Compounded Thyroid Medications with T4 and T3
Another option is to compound a synthetic medication that contains both thyroid hormones, T4 and T3. As with other compounded products, any dose combination is possible. The patient's previous Armour Thyroid dose will need to be converted to approximate equivalent doses of the levothyroxine (T4) and liothyronine (T3). This would be similar to taking medications like Synthroid and Cytomel separately. The advantage is that instead of separate pills, T4 and T3 can then be combined into one capsule for thyroid treatment.
Insurance Coverage for Compounded Prescriptions
Some compounding pharmacies are able to file insurance. In most cases, patients will have to initially pay cash for their prescriptions. They can then submit forms to their insurance company for reimbursement. Patients should contact their insurance company for more information on coverage of compounded medications.
Hypothyroid patients who are interested in a compounded alternative to Armour Thyroid should contact their prescriber.
Source
Professional Compounding Centers of America
Melissa Murfin - Melissa is a physician assistant in endocrinology with a further specialization in thyroid and parathyroid disorders. She is also a ...
